Are Ulster just following the fine example of the southern press and simply not mentioning him at all, most especially when mention of a white or green 13 jumper is involved.
Below is a piece from the UR website, the bit in red and particularly the underlined bit, makes me wonder is Darren Cave being excluded in some sinister way. Given he was left out of a match-day squad for the first time in living memory when fit and available, this is at the very best unbelievably clumsy, at worst................. well you probably don't need me to spell out "calculated insult".
Pretty clear we won't be playing our best outside centre this week.
There can be few more difficult starts to life as a Head Coach than matches against Glasgow, Leicester Tigers and Toulon.
With a win over Glasgow already secured, new Ulster Head Coach, Neil Doak, is now concentrating on the second of those huge matches, against Leicester in the European Rugby Champions Cup, on Saturday evening:
“I was pleased with the result against Glasgow and the platform that we had. To keep them from scoring a try was an exceptional performance,” says Doak.
“I have had a brief look at Leicester. The won again (the beat Harlequins 22 – 16 at Welford Road on Friday night) and they did so in difficult conditions. They are obviously building as we are. Hopefully it will be a good hit out on Saturday.”
As Head Coach, the responsibility of selecting a team now falls on his shoulders and he has some big selection challenges ahead of Saturday’s match:
Doak says: “We have quality across the board but we have to manage the squad. We have big games and there are going to be injuries. We have to adapt and there will be a few selection headaches no doubt.”
Two of those selection questions come in the backline where Stuart McCloskey has been exceptional and Ian Humphreys was in superb form on Saturday night. However, with Stuart Olding and Luke Marshall in the squad and Paddy Jackson back in the selection mix, neither player’s place is assured:
“The big European games are physical. Stuart (McCloskey) has come in and has done a great job for us. He is physical in his carries and defensively he can get in top of players. He’s not over-awed by the atmosphere or the situation. Ian (Humphreys) is a quality player. He is a quality goal kicker – it’s great to have him back. He can dictate the tempo of the game really well and it is good to have Paddy Jackson and Ian competing for that ten jersey.”
Half a dozen quality players competing for two starting positions? Not a bad problem to have in your first week in charge